The Ongoing Struggle

My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. -Hosea 4:6 NLT

I'm quite stuck on this chapter of Hosea today. One reason is that the earlier verses describe the state of the world in terms that sound so much like today: 

There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere—one murder after another. That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing. -Hosea 4:1-3 NLT

In the midst of a pandemic, with murder and violence on the rise, and bees and butterflies disappearing, just to name a few, this could be now.  And Hosea puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the church leadership. Just when I am thinking that it's those other kind of pastors that are the problem, I read this:

Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you. -Hosea 4:4 NLT

So I'm praying about this and asking for God to show me and help me know what I need to know, and then I open my email to find this report from Barna (an excerpt from their upcoming book Trends in Black Church):

When asked what aspects of church are enjoyable, here are the top five answers from Black Church attendees of all ages:

1. Leadership of the pastor
2. Style of preaching
3. Music style
4. Friendliness of the congregation
5. Topics preached on

I am thinking, "That's Black Church.  What about white church?" But I already know the answer as I ask.  It's pretty much the same.  Pastoral leadership is top of the list.

I remember thinking this was true back in the days when I was just a churchgoer, not a pastor.  And I remember thinking that it was tough for church members to grow in their relationship with God if the pastor was not also growing in that relationship. And now that it's me, I feel the blow of James 3:1 which says that leaders/teachers will be judged more.

My first thought is I'm not a good enough leader for this level of scrutiny and judgement. But as I write this, scripture memories flood in, as God is saying again, as God has said so many times to me before, it's not your strength that matters, it's mine.  "My grace is sufficient for you."  "Here's what I require: love mercy, do justice, walk humbly with me." "Not by might but by my Spirit." (2 Cor. 12:9, Micah 6:8, Zech. 4:6)  

And, of course, the one I always come back to:

For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.' - Isaiah 41:13 NLT

And I remember again that this is why I collect frogs, to remember the acronymn Fully Rely On God.  This is what I preach and teach, and this is what I need to keep doing myself.  Keep walking forward.  Keep asking God for help.  Keep paying attention to the Holy Spirit's nudges.  Keep looking for Jesus who is the one who is in charge, right?  Right.

But that's so hard to do, I say again for probably the millionth time.  And God gently says, yet again, I never said it would be easy.  

And I think, ugh, that again. Yeah, yeah, I know.

And I am reminded of all the verses about God's patience with us.

Sigh. 

Thanks, God.

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Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

A Milestone & A Prayer

The Milestone
If you have been reading my weekly sermon posts here, thank you so much for reading!  My sermons are now being posted on our new church website www.upcsterling.com.

The Prayer
Today I am inspired by this prayer that I found in the literature I brought home from the CREDO conference last year:

Holy God, be in my mind that I might let go of all that diminishes the movement of Your Spirit within me.

Discerning God, be in my eyes, that I might see You in the midst of all the busyness that fills my life.

Loving God, be in my heart, that I can be open to those I love, to those with whom I share ministry, and to the whole human family.

Gracious God, be in that grace-filled silence that lies deep within me, that I might live in Christ as Christ lives in me.

Amen.

by: Rev. Canon James C. Fenhagen

Choosing Bold Over Mild

This is a sermon that I preached on Sunday, May 6, 2018 at United Presbyterian Church, Sterling, KS.  Listen to the audio here.
Read Acts 4:23-32 & Matthew 5:13-16 here.

Choosing Bold Over Mild 

How many of you saw today’s sermon title and wondered if I was going to talk about salsa?  So let’s talk about salsa.  Do you prefer bold or mild?

Do you know what robots dip in salsa?  Microchips.

I tried to ask Google whether more people buy bold or mild, but instead of salsa, I got information about coffee.  So how about coffee…do you prefer bold or mild?  Or blonde?

In case you wondered, tortilla chips do not taste good dipped in coffee, neither bold or mild.

Boldness is something the Bible encourages.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Msg version: “God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.”

In the letters to the churches in Revelation, Jesus tells the church in Laodicea that their lack of boldness makes him vomit.  He says,

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16-17)

I don’t want to make Jesus vomit!  Boldness doesn't mean rude, obnoxious, loud, or disrespectful. Being bold is being confident, fearless, daring, strong, and not easily intimidated.[1]  Boldness makes us more effective in telling what we know about Jesus. 

When I was a customer service rep, I learned to be bold when answering questions so a customer could have confidence in my answer.  If I answered mildly, “I think it might be…” then they would ask to speak to someone else who really knew the answer, which drove me nuts because I DID know the answer.  I learned to say, “It is . . .” with confidence.

In the book of Acts, we see the disciples speaking boldly about all they have seen and heard.  Their lives have been changed because of Jesus.  We too are called to be transformed (Romans 12:2) and to boldly trust and boldly follow Jesus.  

How are we to be bold? We see in the story from Acts that we read today that we are to . . . 

Pray boldly.

The early Christians have a rather dramatic experience in prayer.  Prior to this they had been teaching in the temple about what happened with Jesus, and they were confronted by the priests and temple leaders who were disturbed that Peter and John were teaching that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. (Acts 4:2) It’s pretty hard to tell people about Jesus without talking about the resurrection, actually.  Their testimony was very effective, and that day 5,000 men, not counting the women and children, became believers. (4:4) 

The temple council, trying to keep the peace, commanded Peter and John to never speak or teach in the name of Jesus again.  But Peter and John boldly replied, “Do you think we will obey you rather than God? We cannot stop telling about what we have seen and heard.”  Despite this response, the council let them go because they were afraid of a riot. (4:21)

When Peter and John told the other believers what had happened with the council, we might expect they would go into hiding and stop preaching about Jesus until everything settled down, or that they would ask God to make everything peaceful, and keep them from having any more trouble, but instead they pray for more boldness! 

“Give us . . . great boldness in preaching your word.” (4:29)

And then the place where they were meeting shook. God responds boldly, confirming for them that God had heard their prayer, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and went out and preached the word of God with boldness. (4:31)

A bold prayer strengthens their boldness.  We, too, are called to pray boldly.  Jesus says, “Ask and you will receive.” (Matthew 7:7)   As we seek to become more and more a congregation that thrives, let’s ask God to make us bold and to give us clear vision for the words we need to speak, the actions we need to take, and the ways we need to be transformed, so that we might be fully committed disciples of Jesus, ever growing in holiness and grace, and drawing others to him.

Along with praying boldly, we need to…

Trust boldly.

We see this trust in the prayer in Acts 4.  They begin their prayer, “Sovereign Lord, you made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them…You anointed Jesus to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (4:24, 27-28)  They trusted that God had a plan from the beginning  in sending Jesus, and that God would continue to strengthen them as they continued to teach in the name of Jesus. 

We also see bold trust in the story in Daniel 3 of Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego.  King Nebuchadnezzar had commanded that everyone in the kingdom should worship the gold statue that he had had made of himself.  Shed, Mesh & Abe refused to obey, and instead only worshipped God.  The punishment for refusing to worship the gold statue was to be thrown into the furnace, but that didn’t scare these guys.  Instead they make a bold statement of trust in God:  “If we are thrown into the furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us…but even if he doesn’t, we still won’t worship the gold statue.” (Dan. 3:17-18)

God does save them and they survive.  They were even dancing in the furnace.  But before that, they were already trusting, saying, “God is able to save us, but even if he doesn’t, we will still trust in him and worship him alone.”

This is bold faith. God doesn’t promise that things will go the way we want them to.  Our call is to keep on trusting God anyway, and to trust Him with our whole lives and our whole hearts.

Jesus demonstrated this most dramatically in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26:39)  And Jesus taught us to pray similarly, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)

We are to pray boldly, to trust boldly, and to . . . 

Live boldly.

Jesus demonstrated this in his life and ministry, and in his death and resurrection.  And he taught this in his preaching.  The section of Matthew that we read this morning comes from what is probably the most famous sermon, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” (5:13)  “You are the light of the world.” (5:14)  Salt and light are bold.

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It’s striking to me that Jesus doesn’t say, “Go become salt” or “Go become light.”  He says, “You ARE salt.”  “You ARE light.”  He’s telling the disciples to be who they ARE as his followers.  To boldly live as the bearers of the message, witnesses to the life of Jesus and the love of God.  To not be afraid to be who they were called to be.

We don’t always realize how much we are being transformed by spending time with Jesus, but people notice when we respond to situations differently, or when we make different choices about our lives. Salt and light are basic things that make a big difference in the world.  Can you imagine if there were no salt or light?  Can you imagine if there were no Christianity?  If Jesus had never come?

My first funeral after I became a pastor was for a longtime member of the church who had been in the hospital for some time.  In the hospital I had met one of her friends, a Jewish man who was always wearing his yarmulke and prayer shawl.  As we were preparing for her memorial service, I was concerned about offending him because I was going to be talking a lot about Jesus and the resurrection, something that is an important part of Christian funerals.  I asked him if that was going to be a problem, and he told me I should boldly proclaim what was central to my faith.  He said he would step out of the room at that point because that was what his faith dictated, but he also said that he could see how Christians had made the world a better place when they were true to their beliefs. His words made it much easier for me to be bold that day.

Sometimes being bold is more of a risk, as we make choices that challenge us.  A woman named Sarah went with her husband on a business trip.  She and her daughter enjoyed the mornings while the husband attended workshops. One afternoon it was announced that there would be elephant rides for the children in the hotel parking lot. Her daughter, Katie, was delirious with excitement. Sarah told her, “Life is always full of wonderful surprises if we’re open to them. Some mornings you get up not knowing what will happen, and you get to ride an elephant that day!” When they got home, there was an invitation for Sarah to join a group of journalists on a trip to Ireland. She was tired of traveling, and not really a spontaneous person, so she told them she would probably not go. Her husband, overhearing her, said, “So, you’re not going to ride the elephant?” She decided to go.[2]

Though God is powerful, he doesn’t force us.  We get to choose whether to follow Jesus, and whether to be bold – whether to pray boldly, to trust God boldly, and whether to live boldly. 

Living boldly instead of living fearfully and timidly means:

·      Instead of shying away from showing someone love, we take action. Love boldly.

·      Instead of being too afraid of embarrassment, we tell someone about how Jesus has changed us. Tell our stories boldly.

·      Instead of holding a grudge, we offer someone forgiveness. Give grace boldly.

·      Instead of hiding our beliefs, we take a stand, and we speak boldly. 

Most of all, living boldly means following the Lord’s guidance with faithfulness and obedience, regardless of cost.[3] Choosing mild is much easier.  Mild is more comfortable. Mild makes God spit us out. Mild doesn’t ask much of us.  Bold asks everything of us.  Jesus, who gave everything for us, asks us to boldly give him nothing less.

How will you choose to pray and trust and live boldly today?

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Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

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[1] Mike Yaconelli in You Don’t Have to be Perfect to be a Christian

[2] https://therocketcompany.com/10-new-preaching-stories/

[3] Lloyd Ogilvie, The Communicator’s Commentary: Matthew (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), 109.

New Life in the Graveyard

This is a sermon that was preached on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at United Presbyterian Church, Sterling, KS. 
Listen to the audio here.
Read John 11:38-44, Job 9:1-12 here

“It ain’t over til it’s over.”

That’s what Yogi Berra, the coach for the NY Mets, said in 1973 when his team was in last place in the pennant race.  Fans may have been ready to give up on the Mets, but Yogi wasn’t, and they went on to win the pennant that year.[1]

There are a million stories like this, where people refused to give up even though the situation seemed impossible and went on to succeed.  Just this past week we saw another one during the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament when #16 U of Maryland-Baltimore County beat #1 Virginia.  UMBC played fearlessly because they had nothing to lose.  Virginia felt the pressure to hold their ground, and probably underestimated their opponents.  Yet again, the underdog surprised us and won the game.[2]

We claim it as the classic American story, but it’s really a story that belongs to all of humanity.

Because we’re stubborn.  It’s both our strength and our downfall.  We see it all the way back in Exodus when the people were wandering in the desert.  They were stubborn enough to keep going, but too stubborn to listen to Moses and to truly trust God.  At one point when Moses is pleading with God on their behalf, God says, “I have seen these people.  They are a stiff-necked people.” (Ex. 32:9)

God kept having to restrain himself from destroying Israel because they couldn’t help being who they were—“stiff-necked” people (Ex. 33:3), or as one translation puts it, “Impossible to deal with.”  And we too are stiff-necked and difficult, because we are human.

Job, in the passage that Diane read for us today, addresses this dilemma when he asks, “How can a mortal be just before God?” . . . if we were to try to defend ourselves in court, we wouldn’t stand a chance before the righteousness of God.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Eph 2:4-5).  Because of Jesus we are ok with God.  Which is a good thing because we’re looking forward to spending eternity with God, and that would be the opposite of heaven if God was having to try to stop himself from destroying us every moment.  Spending eternity faced with the wrath of God would be . . . hell.

Jesus came so that we might have life (John 10:10), both now and in eternity. This is one of the major themes of John’s gospel.  In the prologue to this book, John says, “in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:4)

In him was life. Jesus brings new life because Jesus is life. The sign of this is that he brings new life – literally -  to a graveyard by resurrecting Lazarus.

Each of the gospel writers shows us that Jesus is the messiah, the Son of God in a different way. 

·      Mark keeps it simple and tells it straight. 

·      Luke adds more detail and emphasizes Jesus’ concern for outcasts

·      Matthew connects what happens to the Old Testament prophecies. 

·      John gives us more of the theological significance, emphasizing Jesus’ divinity

John’s gospel tells us about seven signs.  The first sign, in chapter two, is Jesus changing the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  John tells us:

“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11)

The disciples believed, and so began their journey with Jesus.  John tells us at the end of this gospel that he wants us all to believe.  He says:

“These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)

So that we may believe, and through believing have life.

Raising Lazarus from the dead is the seventh sign in John’s gospel, and John is the only gospel writer to tell us about this event.  Luke and Mark both tells us about another resurrection that Jesus performed. [3] Jairus the synagogue leader came to Jesus because his daughter was sick and he hoped Jesus would heal her.  But by the time Jairus reached Jesus his daughter had died, and people were telling him to give up because it was too late.  They didn’t know who they were dealing with.  Jesus said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”  Well, actually, he said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” (Luke 8:50)

Luke also tells us that Jesus raised another man.  As they were passing through the town of Nain in Galilee, Jesus and his disciples happened upon a funeral procession.  Luke tells us that Jesus had compassion on the dead man’s mother because she was a widow, and so he resurrected her son. (Luke 7:11-17)

Maybe John doesn’t include these other resurrections because the other writers had already covered them, or because these both happened in Galilee, far away from Jerusalem.  John may have thought that raising Lazarus has more significance than the other two because this was the tipping point for those who were against him.  After seeing Jesus raise Lazarus, many people believed that Jesus was the messiah, and that made the religious leaders in Jerusalem realize it was time to take action.  They said, “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” (John 11:48)

If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.  They didn’t realize that there would be one more resurrection, the most important one of all, when Jesus himself would be resurrected, when God said, “It ain’t over till I say it’s over.”

In the conversation that Jesus had with Lazarus’ sisters before he raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)  And then he asked her, “Do you believe this?”

And she answered that she did.  She said, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” (John 11:27)  But then when they were about to open Lazarus’ tomb, Martha tried to stop him. 

She says, “It’s too late, Lord, we already cremated him.”

Of course, they didn’t, really, but even if they had, that wouldn’t have been a problem for Jesus!

That’s not what happened, but Martha did show us that her belief in Jesus didn’t include the expectation that he could raise the dead, especially after Lazarus has been dead for four days. That length of time is significant, because it’s one day longer than the amount of time that Jewish tradition said the person’s spirit was still hanging around.

Martha is certain it’s too late for a resurrection. She says, “It’s stinky in there. He’s been dead for four days.”   But Jesus says, “It ain’t over till I say it’s over.” 

He said, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)

If we truly believe, then we will see the glory of God.

Whether we believe or not, God is still God, Jesus is still the son of God, resurrection still happens, but if we believe than we get to see, and if we don’t then we miss it.  After Jesus raised Lazarus, John tells us that many believed. (11:45)  He doesn’t say that everyone believed.

The religious leaders believed…they believed that Jesus was a big problem, so they began plotting to have him killed.

What about us?  What about you?

Do we believe?  And if we truly believe, how does our belief affect our lives?

In the book we’re reading together for Lent, Easter Earthquake, James Harnish says, “Because of the Resurrection, our lives are no longer a long day’s journey into night; they are an ongoing journey into light and life.”[4]

He reminds us that resurrection is not just about what happens after we die or at the end of time, resurrection is also about the new life we have through our faith in Jesus now. 

How do we see that new life now?

If we believe it ain’t over til God says it’s over…we demonstrate the hope of resurrection

We know that it’s not over until God says it’s over.  We don’t give up and we don’t lose hope, even in tough situations.  Our Old Testament reading for today shows us that although Job has lost everything, all his children and his possessions, he still trusts that God has the power to change everything.  He knows that God is the one “who shakes the earth” and “commands the Sun” and “does great things beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number.” (Job 9:6,7,10)

There’s a church that was in the Presbyterian news this month that didn’t give up.  They were down to fifteen members, and had given up doing everything they used to do, but they still gathered each Sunday to worship.  They weren’t ready to give up on God, though, so they did some soul-searching prayer about how they could show God’s love in the world, even though they were so small. They decided to open up their church to hikers as a hostel.  The church is in Delaware Water Gap, PA alongside the Appalachian Trail. Hospitality became their focus and they are thriving. They offer hikers food, showers, and campsites.  Since that decision in 1976 they have hosted hikers from all over the world, and they have grown from 15 to 130 members.[5]  They believed and saw the glory of God at work among them.

If we believe it ain’t over til God says it’s over …we tell everyone

That’s what happens after Lazarus is raised.  Everybody’s talking about it.  The crowd that gathers on Palm Sunday came to see who this was that raised the dead.  The leaders get worried because everybody’s telling about it. 

Sometimes, we have Martha’s problem.  We believe, but we get stuck on the difficulties. 

·      It’s going to stink. 

·      People might not believe us or want to hear about this. 

It’s true, faith does get messy, and Jesus told us that we would be challenged for believing.  It happened in the media twice recently, once when Vice President Pence said he heard from God and people said he’s crazy[6], and just this week when another politician[7] was challenged by a reporter because he said he sought God’s will when making decisions.  It was bold and brave for both of them to say what they said, and not surprising that they got challenged by people who don’t believe.

We should expect that we will also face challenges and even ridicule.  We need to be thoughtful and prayerful about when and how we speak, but we must speak. 

We have news that can change the world.  If the good news of the gospel has changed our lives, and we truly believe that God does what he says he does, how can we keep it to ourselves? If we believe and tell, we will see the glory of God at work among us.

Because we believe it ain’t over til God says it’s over …we watch for signs of new life

John’s gospel gives us seven signs:

1.    Changing water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-11) - "the first of the signs"

2.    Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum (John 4:46-54)

3.    Healing the paralytic at Bethesda (John 5:1-15)

4.    Feeding the 5000 (John 6:5-14)

5.    Jesus walking on water (John 6:16-24)

6.    Healing the man blind from birth (John 9:1-7)

7.    The raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45)

Jesus says that if we believe, we too will see signs of life, signs of God’s glory. 

Job sees them in the Sun and the stars, and in the changes that have happened in his life.  Paul tells us we will see the signs of God’s work in ourselves and in one another whenever we see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23)  Though it seems impossible that hearts and minds can change, with God all things are possible! (Matt 19:23-30)

2 Cor 5:17 If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

In Hanover, England, there is a cemetery next to a small country church.  In the middle of the cemetery there is a large stone monument with steps leading up to it.  The date that it was built is etched into the stone.  1782.  And along with the family names, there is this statement carved into the stone: 

“The sepulchre, purchased for all eternity, is not permitted to be opened.”

Whoever purchased the monument was determined that it should stand undisturbed for all eternity.  But at some point in its time in that place, a small seed fell into one of the crevices of the foundation of the monument. 

The seed took root, and grew into a large tree, splitting apart the stones, and reminding us that despite that carved warning to future generations not to open this grave, God is the one who has the last word.[8]

It ain’t over til God says it’s over.

Jesus says, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”

May we believe and watch and see and give thanks for all the ways that new life keeps coming into our lives through Jesus Christ.

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[1] http://mentalfloss.com/article/68931/8-pop-culture-references-yogi-berras-it-aint-over-till-its-over   and http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34324865

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/sports/march-madness-ncaa-tournament.html

[3] Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56

[4] Harnish, James A.. Easter Earthquake: How Resurrection Shakes Our World (Kindle Locations 899-901). Upper Room. Kindle Edition.

[5] https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/pt-0418-hikers/

[6] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/02/19/pence-defends-faith-normal-after-tv-host-calls-crazy-think-jesus-talks-him/353088002/

[7] Saw this on the tv news but then couldn’t find it on the internet to corroborate it.

[8] http://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/attempting-to-escape-the-resurrection